Spring: 'The music of open windows'
February/March 2026
Spring has certainly sprung around at Pre-Prep. It’s such a joy to see the children out in the playground again, minus the layers and layers of waterproofs and cosy clothes! Our outdoor Mud Kitchen has recently had a new lease of life, and the children have been enjoying new pots, pans, jugs and baking trays to make all sorts of delicious treats!
On Wednesday, the Pre-Prep in its entirety headed south of the border to Longridge Towers School for their very first cross country competition. The children ran the course with impressive determination, cheered on by their peers and parents alike. William C. earned a gold medal in the Year 1 Boys category, Scout MN earned a bronze medal in the Year 2 Girls category, and Rory T rounded off our successes with a silver medal in the Year 3 Boys category! A successful day all round!
On Thursday, Pre-Prep celebrated World Book Day in style with an array of characters from a variety of story books! The children started the day with a catwalk to show off their costumes, followed by storybook scavenger hunts, bookmark making, paired reading with F4 and F2 and finally, an incredible workshop with Abi Elphinstone. Everyone was thoroughly inspired by the end of the day, with lots of budding authors and illustrators hard at work back in their classrooms.
Form 8/R
In literacy, the children have continued their work on The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch. They have thoroughly enjoyed designing and labelling their own revolting sandwiches, using their imaginations to come up with some wonderfully disgusting sandwiches. The children have also been learning how to structure questions correctly, thinking carefully about punctuation and sentence formation.
In maths, Form 8 have now completed their topics on length and measure and addition and subtraction and will be moving on to explore mass and capacity. Meanwhile, Reception have been busy exploring and ordering numbers to 10, as well as identifying and continuing repeating patterns such as pink, yellow, pink, yellow…. What comes next?
In science, the children have finished their topic on materials. They have investigated which materials float or sink, explored if materials are transparent or opaque, tested absorbency, and learned about melting and freezing. Next, they will begin an exciting new topic on animal classification, where they will learn about birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish.
Form 7
In literacy, the children have been learning about the four sentence types – statements, questions, exclamations and commands – and have been trying to vary their sentences as they write. They’ve been using expanded noun phrases and similes to add detail too. As we near the end of the spring term, the children will make use of the new techniques they’ve been learning about to write a detailed setting description. We’ll be focussing on Amelia Earhart’s journey around the world and describing a variety of locations that she visited along the way.
In maths, the children have recently started a new topic on money. They’ve enjoyed exploring coins by looking closely at their shape, colour, size and value. I’ve been super impressed by the children’s ability to understand ‘equivalence’ i.e. £1 can be made with two 50p coins, or ten 10p coins, or five 20p coins etc. We’ve been documenting this with part-whole models and bar models which has given us an opportunity to consolidate previously learnt skills.
In our topic lessons, the children have enjoyed researching Amelia Earhart to prepare for our upcoming Spoken English competition. They have used a range of non-fiction books to explore her childhood, early life as a pilot, various achievements and her untimely demise! We can’t wait to share our presentations next week with our family and friends.
Form 6
In literacy, Form 6 have been working on adding suspense into our writing using similes, metaphors and personification and exploring the impact that short, snappy sentences have on our writing. We then began to rewrite the story of ‘The Tunnel’ including all these different techniques to make our writing more suspenseful. The children have done a fantastic job and really challenged themselves to include challenging vocab and more descriptive language. We have begun to explore the constituent parts of a balanced argument. We have identified arguments for and against various topics, and, inspired by the Prep school’s triumph this week, having mini debates in the class which we will look to transfer into our writing.
In our numeracy lessons, Form 6 have recently completed their multiplication and division topic looking at 2, 3, 4 and 8-times tables. Some have challenged themselves further by exploring the 6, 7 and 9-times tables as well. The children have done a fantastic job recognising the connections between various times tables and how they can use their knowledge to solve problems. Form 6 have also been learning all about money. They have used their knowledge of the value of each note and coin to convert pence into pounds and pence. They have then gone onto build upon their understanding of addition and subtraction in order to find the correct change. They have really enjoyed our money topic and being able to connect their learning to real life scenarios.
In science, we have just finished our topic all about rocks. Here, the children had to identify each rock type and explain their properties. They especially loved carrying out different tests on each rock type to learn more about their different properties. We have now moved onto our next topic - Light! We have begun to explore different light sources and are looking at the impact and role of the sun. The children have loved having meaningful discussions surrounding the sun and what would happen if it ‘disappeared’. They will begin to learn about how we see, identifying that we are able to see an object because light reflects off it, enters our eyes, and how the brain then processes this information. Form 6 have really enjoyed their science lessons; we have some curious young scientists in our midst!
Music
Form 6 are learning the ukulele, working on chords and melodies. They have built on last term’s music reading by learning to read ‘tab’ — valuable skills that will support future ukulele and guitar playing in the Prep School.
Form 7 are getting to grips with whole-class violin. This challenges their co-ordination and motor skills, while also teaching them how to handle an instrument with care and attention. They are fascinated by how the violin works and how the sound is produced.
Form 8 are making excellent progress on the recorder. This develops breath and tongue control, finger dexterity, hand co-ordination and careful listening — both individually and as part of an ensemble. Playing together requires far more than simply starting and finishing at the same time; maintaining a steady beat and creating a unified sound takes real concentration.
In Reception, pupils are exploring hand-held percussion, discovering the range of sounds they can create and practising how to produce the best quality of sound. They are also developing their ability to match and maintain a steady beat — the foundation of all music.
In choir, the Pre-Prep are singing with growing confidence, tackling tongue twisters and learning the important skill of listening to themselves, each other and the overall group sound.
We look forward to sharing our learning with you at our Pre-Prep Showcase on Friday 15th May at 2pm.
Springing into Outdoor Ed!
Oh how we love the changing of the seasons...particularly crawling out of winter! Pre-prep were primed and ready to welcome all the signs of spring as they appeared around us, above us, and miraculously through the mud underneath us! The mighty Pre-Prep eco warriors set about documenting all their finds as spring spies, putting to use all their senses and testing their knowledge of names and information about the plant/tree cycles.
As part of our spring watch we have been documenting the birds we see onsite (feeding this into the RSPB Big Schools' Birdwatch) whilst also monitoring the tree lines for nests as they begin to appear. We have been learning about how individual a nest is to a specific bird, and also challenging ourselves to build our own! We are learning how hardworking, committed and resilient a small bird can be!
To welcome the sunshine we have celebrated with some planting within our pre-prep mud kitchen and surrounding flower beds. We do so love getting our hands dirty!
We certainly all have a renewed skip in our steps now the days are lengthening once more and are so enjoying lots of adventures in our great outdoor spaces!
After School Club
Much creativity in Arts and Crafts, and Woolly Skills
From paper dancers and cardboard hearts to paper flowers and egg box snowdrops, we are truly making magic!
Woolly skills has focused on finger knitting this term, and producing magical necklaces/hair accessories! The children have worked really hard to complete their projects and should be so proud of their excellent results.
We are currently using forks and wool to produce our next product! Watch this space...
These ASC sessions are such a joy to be a part of; we set calm music, get comfortable, we knit/create and chat!
